


Domino

by HolyCatsAndRabbits, Stark-Raving-Strange (Kayjaykayme)



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: 2020 Aroway Challenge, Alaska, Crowley is soft for dogs, Dogsledding, Established Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Established Relationship, M/M, ace relationship, art/fic collab, dogsled competition, dogsled race, eep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24003616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolyCatsAndRabbits/pseuds/HolyCatsAndRabbits, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayjaykayme/pseuds/Stark-Raving-Strange
Summary: Written for the 2020 Aro Way Challenge. Aziraphale and Crowley are given the present of a week at a dog sledding lodge. Crowley is unexpectedly excited. When Aziraphale finds out why, the fic takes a turn into a big fluffy dog-pile of love.Art by Stark-Raving-Strange (Kayjaykayme), fic by HolyCatsAndRabbits (Dannye Chase)
Relationships: Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 65
Kudos: 115
Collections: The Aro Way Challenge 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> From Dannye (HolyCatsAndRabbits): I have actually been dog sledding, because I have a daughter who is obsessed with it. She’s gone twice at a lodge in Minnesota. So I drew from experience for this fic. The dogs mentioned are all real (although they’ve changed breed for this story), and I put in pictures of them at the end of the fic. The nicknames for Domino are from real life, and always used lovingly. See the end notes for more on the 1925 Serum Run to Nome, which Crowley mentions.  
>   
> The best part of dog sledding is, of course, the dogs, and I had a vision of Crowley finding his zen in a pile of them, and my co-creator Stark-Raving-Strange (Kayjaykayme) so kindly offered to draw it, so look for that art in the fic!
> 
> From Stark-Raving-Strange (Kayjaykayme): the art is a drawing on paper with graphite pencil, original is 11"x14"
> 
> Thanks very much to the mods who organized this event and to DragonsThough101 for being Dannye’s Aro mentor for this fic!

Anathema handed Aziraphale an envelope. “I know it’s early for Christmas, but we wanted you to be able to make plans.”

Aziraphale withdrew a piece of paper. “It’s a stay at a lodge in Alaska, directly after Christmas.” He looked up at Anathema, hating to disappoint her after the trouble she’d taken. “Oh, that’s very kind of you, dear, but I’m afraid Crowley doesn’t get on terribly well in cold areas. It’s the serpent in him.”

“It’s not just a lodge,” Anathema said hastily. “It’s— well, you two have been around since the beginning, and Newt and I were months trying to think if there could be anything you hadn’t done. And I hope we might have found something.”

Aziraphale went back to the paper. “Evergreen Lodge— gourmet food, luxury accomodations, and every day take your own team out _dog sledding?_ Oh. Well. Ah, that is—”

Aziraphale was interrupted by Crowley, who suddenly sat straight up on the couch, clapped his hands over his mouth, and still managed to say very loudly, “EEP!”

They all stared at him. Crowley grabbed the paper out of Aziraphale’s hands. “Sled dogs— those are the poofy ones, right? Masks on their faces?”

“Ah, sometimes, yeah,” Anathema said, smiling broadly now. “Have you been?”

“Not me, no,” Crowley said. “Angel, you were in Nenana, weren’t you? 1925?”

“In a blessing capacity,” Aziraphale said quickly. “I didn’t actually partake of the, ah, sledding and dogs part.”

“Well, we can hardly refuse a Christmas gift, can we?” Crowley asked. Aziraphale stared at him in confusion while Anathema beamed.

oOo

The Bentley was not made for Alaskan roads in the wintertime. Crowley had apparently decided to be willfully ignorant of that fact, because here they were, driving down the long snow-covered lane to the lodge with perfect ease.

Crowley himself was also looking completely at home in an environment that was ill-suited for him. Aziraphale had at least made sure Crowley was wearing proper winter gear, underclothing and coat, gloves, boots. He had a face mask to wear as well, since apparently the wind would be a factor as the sleds got moving. 

For Aziraphale’s part, he was looking forward to the luxury accomodations and gourmet food, although he was a little skeptical about both. He needn’t have worried, as it turned out. They drove around the bend to find Evergreen Lodge standing tall among the spruce trees, glowing warmly in the afternoon light. It looked elegant, with banks of windows overlooking the wilderness, and yet cozy. And it _felt_ like— “Love,” Aziraphale said quietly. “All over here, I can feel it.” 

Crowley gave him a smirk.

It was as beautiful inside the lodge as out. The bed in their room was covered in quilts of many colors and there was a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. And lunch was indeed lovely, salmon and rice with winter squash and homemade bread.

After that, they sat through a bit of complicated instruction on how the dogs’ harnesses worked, because, to Aziraphale’s dismay, the guests were apparently going to learn to harness their own teams to their sled. The other guests seemed eager. Aziraphale was somewhat concerned. _Crowley_ literally bounced on the couch with excitement.

As soon as they started climbing the hill toward the kennel, the dogs picked up the noise of human feet and greeted them with raucous howling. Crowley said “EEP!” again and Aziraphale put an arm around him. At least a third of the feeling of love that was climbing the hill with them was coming from Crowley.

When they crested the hill, they found a few separate kennels, each filled with a group of joyful, noisy dogs. Crowley bounded over to the enclosure that held the dogs for their sled. They stopped right outside, and Aziraphale began mentally rehearsing the harness instructions, looking skeptically at the dogs as they bounced around in excitement. They were attractive, largely white and black, and extremely fluffy. Occupied as he was, it took Aziraphale a minute to catch on to what Crowley was doing. It wasn’t until a pair of gloves landed on the snow in front of Aziraphale that he looked over to find Crowley removing all of his winter gear: coat, hat, even boots.

“What on earth are you doing?” Aziraphale exclaimed in horror. 

“Getting to know the dogs,” Crowley said, as if it were obvious. And then he vaulted over the low wall that lined the kennel and snapped his fingers. The tethers on all six dogs released and all seven of the ridiculous animals in the kennel— six dogs and one demon— piled together in an enormous embrace.

**Art by Stark-Raving-Strange (Kayjaykayme)**

“Darling, I think we’re meant to be meeting them one at a time,” Aziraphale said. 

Crowley spoke to the dog whose face was closest to his own. “Don’t listen to him, Ruby, he doesn’t know anything about dog sledding.”

“I have seen more dog sledding than you,” Aziraphale pointed out.

“Yeah, well, I know more sled dogs than you do, don’t I? Six. I know six more dogs than you.”

oOo

They got to know their team better when they went out sledding. To Aziraphale’s gratitude, Crowley appeared to be adept at the harnessing of the dogs, either because they liked him so much or because a little chaos didn’t faze him.

They liked Aziraphale too. Aziraphale had taken the time to meet them (individually), and had pet them and told them they were very good dogs, and now he could greet them by name. They were harnessed in three sets of twos: Acorn and Toby were the “wheel dogs” just in front of the sled. In front of them were Ruby and Lucy, and in the lead, Covy and Domino. Aziraphale and Crowley stood on a ledge at the back end of the sled and held onto a handlebar. Directly behind them was the foot brake. When stepped on, it would drag in the snow and slow the sled.

A guide on skis went in front of the dogs, showing them the path that wound through wooded areas and then out onto a frozen lake. That was where the wind was worst, and Aziraphale made sure Crowley wore his mask.

It didn’t take long to get a sense of the different personalities of the dogs, and, to Aziraphale’s dismay, for Crowley to find a rather mischievous kindred spirit. When they’d met their lead dog Domino, a guide had mentioned that it wasn’t his full name. Aziraphale quickly developed suspicions as to what the rest of the name might be.

Domino was Covy’s son. Aziraphale imagined that he’d been harnessed in next to his mother because the guides hoped it would keep him in line. The tactic didn’t seem to work overly well. Covy made a great lead dog, following the guide. Domino had ideas of his own about where they ought to go.

The ground was covered in snow, of course, but there were sticks and blades of grass and other detritus on the route. Domino felt that each and every one of these interesting bits of matter should be peed on. And thus, Aziraphale and Crowley learned the first of Domino’s nicknames: “Domino-on-by.” Sled dogs were controlled by voice command, and “on-by” meant “whatever you have found, please ignore it and pull the sled.”

It didn’t work, of course. Domino peed where he liked. Crowley seemed very proud of him.

And then Domino found something in the snow that he wanted to take with him. He picked up a black bit of litter and raced along with it in his mouth. The other dogs seemed quite interested in it, though, and became distracted, jumping about rather than pulling the sled evenly. The guide circled back and heaved a sigh so loud you could hear it through her mask. 

“He found a stick,” Aziraphale informed her.

“It’s not a stick,” she told them. “It’s frozen wolf poop. He loves it.” And then she said, with great fondness in her voice, “Our Domino is a complete and utter butt-face.” And there was the full name: “Domino-you-butt-face.”

Domino refused to give up his prize. Crowley was extremely proud to have a lead dog who had earned the name “Butt-face.” And so the day went on.

oOo

They ate a lovely dinner of chicken pasta in white wine with cheesecake for dessert. Afterwards, Crowley and Aziraphale curled up on the couch in the lodge’s living room. The room was stocked with books on dogs, adventures, and racing, and Aziraphale had found a few to peruse. Some of the other guests pulled out a chess board and got a game going.

“Had a dog once,” Crowley said quietly.

Aziraphale looked up at him in surprise. “I didn’t know that.”

“Was just the once.” Crowley ran a hand through his hair, which was a nervous tell. Aziraphale put down his book.

“I found him in Rome. He was a stray, needed food. I fed him, and I guess he figured I was good for more meals, so he followed me around.”

“He probably loved you,” Aziraphale said. “The dogs here do.”

A corner of Crowley’s mouth twisted up in a smile. “Yeah, maybe. I got in trouble, though, and some humans came looking for me. The dog chased them off. Saved me being discorporated, I’m pretty sure. But all I could think about was what would happen if he did that when a demon came looking for me. Or any angel but you. I found him a new home. Haven’t had a dog since then.”

Aziraphale put his hand over Crowley’s. “Oh, my dear. I’m so sorry.”

Crowley sniffled a little. “Long time ago.”

“We should get a dog,” Aziraphale said. 

Crowley looked at him in shock, Aziraphale could tell that even with the dark glasses on. “You would hate that, having a dog,” Crowley said.

“I’ve made bigger sacrifices for you, haven’t I?” Aziraphale asked.

Crowley gave him a look of wonder, before he seemed to remember that such a thing was not demonic. “Gonna take a soak in the hot tub,” he said, standing up. “Want to finish your reading in there?”

That sounded lovely, so Aziraphale followed him upstairs.


	2. Chapter 2

Crowley was relaxing one morning before their ride when he looked up to see Aziraphale standing over him with a disapproving look. “You can’t just lie around in a pile of dogs all day, you know,” Aziraphale said.

Crowley rubbed his cheek against Acorn’s face where it lay on his shoulder. “But they’re so warm and soft,” he protested.

Aziraphale raised an elegant eyebrow. “I myself am rather warm and soft, if I may remind you.”

“Yeah, sorry, angel, you’ve been replaced.”

Aziraphale rolled his eyes.

Crowley raised his hand to him. “Aziraphale, get in here, you idiot. There’s enough dogs for two.”

“I am not going to lie down on the snow!” the angel exclaimed.

Well. They would have to see about that, wouldn’t they?

oOo

Crowley himself was not entirely sure exactly how much of a hand he’d had in Aziraphale falling off of the sled an hour later. He also wasn’t sure how likely it was that Aziraphale would believe that Crowley had nothing to do with it.

The guides had covered the topic of falling off of the sleds. The basics were this: it was very easy to fall off a sled. The routes went over bumps and around corners, and you had to be careful to hang on. And it didn’t help that the dogs were not on your side.

The thing about sled dogs was that they liked to run and they liked to pull sleds and they liked to do those things very, very fast. When people were on the sleds, the dogs had to go slower, because of the weight. If the people weren’t on the sleds...well. The point was that the dogs certainly weren’t going to stop and wait for you to get back on. If _both_ people fell off, then the guide on skis would have to try to catch your sled for you while hollering at your lead dog to stop having quite so much fun.

It was the fourth day of their stay by now and neither Aziraphale nor Crowley had fallen off yet. Crowley didn’t think either of them had used a miracle to ensure this, unless it had been unconscious. But this afternoon when they went over a not-completely-buried tree stump, Aziraphale vanished from Crowley’s side and landed in their wake with an _oof_ sound.

Crowley managed to stop the sled by standing fully on the brake and pleading with Domino-my-lovely-butt-face to please have pity on him. Domino eventually let the guide hold his harness while Crowley went back for Aziraphale.

Crowley wasn’t going to laugh at him. This was what he told himself. It didn’t matter. Seeing Aziraphale covered in snow was bad enough, but it was also obvious that the angel had brought his wings out in a bit of fright, because there were two giant wing impressions in the snow beside him. 

It was all right, though, because Aziraphale, bless his heart, was also laughing. And he was very proud of both Crowley and Domino for having stopped the sled for him.

Aziraphale did have a bit of revenge that night when guides brought over a litter of puppies for a visit. The guests sat down on the snow to meet them. The puppies were incapable of sitting still, and raced from person to person, jumping in laps and up onto shoulders. Crowley had two in his lap when he felt a bit of a push and found himself on his back in the snow and quickly covered in puppies. Of course, he didn’t mind, so he wasn’t sure why Aziraphale had— Oh. One of the puppies decided that Crowley’s sunglasses would make a very good toy and relieved him of them.

But to Crowley’s delight, Aziraphale came to lie next to him in the snow and let the puppies run all over the both of them.

oOo

At the end of the week, there was a race. It wasn’t quite as intense as the Iditarod: teams would run one at a time over a measured course and the fastest team would be declared the winner. 

Crowley could tell Aziraphale wanted to say something about the race while they were waiting their turn. They were both sprawled in the snow with dogs on top of them, and Aziraphale looked quite comfortable indeed.

“It’s okay,” Crowley told him. “Domino and I had a heart-to-heart. Musher to lead dog. Discussed expectations.”

Aziraphale made that little frown of his, although it was hard to see with a tail wagging in his face. “Dear,” he said hesitantly, “I’m not sure that we should expect our particular team to be the fastest.”

Crowley scratched Covy’s belly. “There’s lots of ways to win, angel.”

Aziraphale raised an eyebrow at that, but before he could ask, it was time to get their team in their harnesses.

The race started off well. They were the last team to run, so the time to beat was clear. The course was about a mile long, partly out on the lake and partly through the forest. It was in the forest that they got into trouble. Crowley failed to duck at the right time and a tree branch hit him square in the chest, knocking him from the sled.

He reappeared on the sled beside Aziraphale, tucking his wings away, before the angel could hit the brake. Aziraphale frowned at him. “That is cheating. Is that what you meant about _lots of ways to win?”_

“Real cheating would be miracling us out of last place,” Crowley countered. “We’re just finishing strong. I want the dogs to be proud of us.”

They did come in last, according to the time. But Crowley joyfully threw his arms around Domino. “Did you see, angel?” he exclaimed. “He peed on every single bit of grass the whole way. Even with the stakes so high, Domino didn’t lose focus. He completed the race while being a butt-face the _entire time.”_

Aziraphale was laughing. “You’ll have to miracle him some frozen wolf poop as a reward.”

Crowley fell back in the snow as the dogs rushed to cover him. A guide poked her head into their corral. “You know,” she said, “when the dogs retire, we often adopt them out to former guests.”

Crowley couldn’t keep himself from making that noise that sounded like _EEP!_ He looked up at Aziraphale, preparing for the argument.

There was none. “I expect Domino’s found his future home then,” Aziraphale told the guide, and she smiled.

Crowley found himself coughing, and it wasn’t only because he had a tail in his face. “Aziraphale— are you serious?”

Aziraphale put up a hand. “If you let me say what I want without objecting, yes.” Crowley kept quiet and Aziraphale nodded approvingly. “Crowley, you love more purely than anyone in creation. I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that, and I can’t imagine depriving Domino of the kind of love you could give him. I think not only should we adopt him, but we ought to visit every year until he’s retired.” His mouth twisted into a smirk. “Besides, it’s not like I don’t have a lot of practice in loving a butt-face.”

“That you do,” Crowley said, pulling him down into the pile of dogs. “That you do.”

oOo

Pictures!

The dogs at our lodge are mostly Canadian Eskimo dogs, which are like the mac trucks of dog sledding. They aren’t fast, but they are built to haul a lot of weight. The dogs Aziraphale and Crowley work with are the more traditional Siberian Huskies. Those, along with Alaskan Huskies, are the race cars of sled dogs, built for speed. Our dog Ruby was an Alaskan Husky who had run part of the Iditarod!

_Front: Domino & Covy, Back: Ruby and Acorn _

We never got to pile up with more than one dog at a time at our dog sled lodge, but we got our cuddles in for sure!

_Domino as lead dog, followed by Lucy, Acorn, and Toby_

_Puppies!_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Be sure to check out all the other Aro Way Challenge works! 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are so appreciated!  
> Find us on tumblr [Stark-Raving-Strange (Kayjaykayme)](https://stark-raving-strange.tumblr.com/) and  
> [HolyCatsAndRabbits](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/holycatsandrabbits)  
> Twitter [@DannyeChase](https://twitter.com/DannyeChase)  
> Facebook [Dannye Chase](https://facebook.com/DannyeChase)  
> and Instagram [dannye_chase](https://www.instagram.com/dannye_chase/)
> 
> The [1925 Serum Run to Nome](http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20161014-in-1925-a-remote-town-was-saved-from-lethal-disease-by-dogs) was an effort by 20 dogsled teams to rush an antitoxin for the disease diphtheria across the Alaskan wilderness from the city of Nenana to a stricken community in Nome, thus preventing a pandemic (how timely for us in 2020). The route normally would take 25 days by dog sled, but in the brutal cold, the serum would have expired in 6 days. The mushers and dogs made the nearly-700 mile route without stop by turning it into a relay race, with a fresh musher and team taking over every so often. Musher Leonard Seppala also made the decision to cut crucial days off the route by taking his team over the melting Norton Sound (the ocean) in a white-out blizzard, having to rely completely on his lead dog, Togo, to keep them away from open water. (A white-out blizzard means you can’t see anything but snow, so everyone, humans and dogs, are operating blind.) They made the crossing, and musher Gunnar Kaasen took over, with his lead dog Balto, and the antitoxin arrived in Nome in 5.5 days. You cannot make this stuff up, guys, it’s amazing. The Iditarod dog sled race commemorates this literally death-defying “Great Race of Mercy.” Nowadays, diphtheria is the D in the TDaP vaccine. Vaccinate, people!!


End file.
